Author: Graham Leupp

Move over Richard Branson, it seems like the tie is making a comeback in a big way. More and more people every year are bucking the once-popular trend of not wearing a tie at all. Instead, ties are seen more often with suits, with semi-casual get-ups, and more. Heck, some people even use their tie as the centerpiece of their outfit, making everything else match it. It has never been a more popular accessory, and as I already said, is sometimes now the dominant piece in a person’s outfit!

Choosing a tie that’s right for you can be a challenging task in itself. There are hundreds, even thousands of options to sift through out there now! But picking out a good tie shop makes the job that much easier. And lucky for you, Mr. Formal’s online shop is now up and running.

You looking for a snazzy black tie? Mr Formal’s tie shop has several different options for black ties, in either bow tie or necktie form. You can easily look through all of the options in a quick two minutes! Our tie shop also regularly stocks up on our more popular choices, such as skinny black ties.

Mr Formal’s online tie shop makes our huge in-store selection available to all of North America!

If you look here, you can look through our wide selection of solid-pattern colored neckties. You can find something in this page alone to match just about any shirt or jacket you might put on!

Or if you’re looking for something really nice, you can find a few different designer choices in our tie shop as well! There are a few different options to buy these on their own, However, there are also options that allow you to buy a set, like a designer tie and cummerbund set.

Maybe you are looking for something other than ties though. Thankfully, Mr. Formal is a lot more than just a tie shop. We have specialized in men’s formal wear for many years now! You can find a wide range of tuxedos, suits, vests, and many different formal accessories to accompany your outfit!

And, as I’ve said before, we’re a lot more than just an online tie shop. We have two different brick-and-mortar locations. If you’re in Phoenix, you can come on in during our business hours and look through all of our merchandise. Our two physical locations in the Phoenix area, along with their hours, are as follows:

Our Central Phoenix location is at 333 East Camelback Road, Phoenix Arizona, 85012. Our Glendale location is further north at 3434 West Peoria Avenue, Phoenix Arizona, 85029. The hours for both stores are the same: Monday – Friday 11AM to 7PM, Saturday 10AM to 5PM, and Sunday 12PM – 5PM.

However, if you don’t live in the Phoenix area, you can go through our tie shop just by going to our online shopping page. Be sure to join our mailing list! We send out occasional discounts and messages to our mailing list subscribers, and you can be sure to take advantage of those. Have fun looking through our online tie shop, and we would love to see your completed outfit on our Facebook page!

Suit. The answer to many first-world problems!

Sure, modern man might not be plagued by many of the survival problems that our ancestors faced. For those of us living in the first world, things like hunger, predators, and pestilence are but a distant memory.

And yet, this new world of ours, we face a different set of difficulties than what we used to. Sure, it’s not a matter of life or death anymore, but it is happiness or misery, prosperity or ruin. This new set of problems that besets men includes low self esteem, bad perception from others, and more.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. “This is sounding more and more like a self-help blog, not one about menswear.” I implore you to bear with me, because the two will intersect pretty soon here. Because, what you wear can affect both your confidence, and the way others perceive you.

And no clothing boosts a man’s self-esteem or raises him up in the eyes of others like a suit. And here’s five reasons why that is indeed the case.

A suit can improve the way you’re seen in the eyes of associates

Sure your opinion of yourself matters a lot. But it’s willful ignorance to say that what other people think of you doesn’t matter in any sort of sense. After all, in almost everything you do in life, you will be dealing with other people. And their own opinion of you can and will affect whether they decide to help you or hinder you.

Basically, your appearance can be either an asset or a liability.

Sure, putting on a suit takes more time and more effort. And that’s just the kind of thing that makes it so valuable before dealing with people. When you show up in a suit, it shows that you care more about your appearance. Imagine showing up to a wedding in jeans and a band T-shirt, and sitting next to a guy wearing a suit. Which of you is going to look like you care more about the bride and groom’s big day? Which brings me to my next point:

A suit shows you care about others, not just yourself

Dressing up for an important event for someone else isn’t just classy, it’s a gesture of good-will. Making yourself look clean and classy before you show up means that your buddy’s event is as important to you as it is to them. Not only is this just the decent thing to do, but you score major class-points to everyone around you.

One reason people commonly perceive K Fed. as a slob is because he dresses like one.

A suit helps you feel more confident about yourself

Of course, if your own opinion of yourself is crap, then it doesn’t matter how much other people like you. Confidence, or the absence of it, can both be detected by those interacting with you. And if someone has no confidence in themselves, then how can you be expected to have any in them? I’ve met many people whose own feelings of self-worth are low, despite any false sense of bravado they broadcast. You can stand in front of the mirror and tell yourself ‘I’m awesome’ over and over. But if you don’t really feel that way, then repeating a mantra about it is pointless.

A suit is the the pinnacle of everyday menswear; it just LOOKS awesome. But chances are, you already knew that. Therefore, if you put on a suit and cleaned yourself up, you’d be able to say ‘I LOOK awesome.’ And looking awesome is one definitive step closer to BEING awesome.

Compare this picture of Will Arnett with the one above. If you knew nothing about either of them, which of these guys would you rather be seen with?

It’s a fact. Many women find a man wearing a suit more attractive

There’s an entire ZZ Top song about how women love guys in suits. There are a myriad of different reasons for this, and I’ll try to cover as many as I can. But, I’ll go with what is, in my opinion, the biggest case for this. I literally just turned to my wife and asked her why men in suits are more attractive. Her exact words in reply were “Because a guy in a suit looks as little like a slob as possible.”

Now I’m not the authority on what women find attractive or not, but I do know that most of them appreciate it when a guy puts some effort into his appearance. If you’re wearing a suit, then you can still look great even with messy hair or wearing tennis shoes. Putting on a suit shows that you’ve gone that extra mile to make yourself look good. No one, man or woman, finds someone who puts no effort forth to be attractive.

A suit’s representation as a status symbol certainly helps. Suits cost a little bit of money. Therefore, wearing one sort of broadcasts that you have your life together, that you’re stable. And stability is definitely a desirable trait for a male.

The final point I’ll cover for the attractiveness of suits is simply how they look on a guy. A suit brings out all the desirable traits for a male’s physique. This is especially true now, since the sim-fit suit has become so popular. Putting on a suit makes your waist look slimmer, your shoulders broader, and some even make short guys look taller.

Anyone familiar with the show ‘How I met your mother’ knows that Barney Stinson was legendary with the ladies. He was also the only one out of his pals who always wore a suit. And in my opinion, those two things are definitely correlated. So take his advice:

Not only is a suit the definition of class, but getting one is easy!

The days of a suit being only for the wealthy are over. Just about anybody can find a great-looking suit now, even if they don’t have a lot of money. Not only can you find a suit at many stores, but they’re widely available online now, including our own website. We’ve been helping men look their best for decades, and we’d love to do the same for you!

Fun novelty wedding themes

So, a certain trend I’ve been seeing lately is novelty wedding themes. Now, I understand that there may be plenty of people out there whose life dream is to be married with the ‘Naruto’ theme song playing as the bride walks down the aisle. I want you all to know, that I’m not here to knock down your dreams. Please read with open minds, and if you disagree at the end, that’s fine. But there’s a good case against using novelty wedding themes for your wedding.

Novelty themes are great…I’ve been to some really fun parties that had themes like Ghostbusters, Pokemon, Star Wars, and even comic book characters. And therein, lies one of the problems with novelty wedding themes. You can have as many themed parties as you want throughout your lifetime. Hopefully, you’ll only have one wedding. Now, would you really want your wedding…the most important day in your life…to be indistinguishable from a themed house party you would throw?

It’s all in fun

I know what you are probably thinking: “But as long as people have fun, that’s all that matters, right? Why shouldn’t I be able to dress up like Link or Yu-Gi-Oh at my wedding? It’s MY wedding!” That’s true: it IS your wedding. It’s one of the biggest opportunities in your life to say something about who you are not just to your friends, but to your spouse-to-be’s family, your own family who you may not know very well, and whomever else. And with a themed wedding, your really only saying one thing: “I really really really like (insert name of band, tv show, sports team, super hero or movie here.)

A wedding is a celebration of your marriage to another person, not a celebration of your love for a particular TV show. The thought that you put into making your wedding not just like-able and memorable to you, but to everyone attending, says a lot about you as a person.

A couple of wedding themes

Another thing most people think about when planning their wedding is what the most popular wedding themes are. There are many many wedding themes out there, and what one bride and groom may love, another couple may be repulsed by. Choosing the right theme for your wedding can be intimidating, given all the choices that are out there, so here are two of the most popular wedding themes out there.

Classical

The first one is personally my favorite of the most popular wedding themes: Classical. Sometimes also referred to as vintage, this popular wedding theme usually involves lots of the colors black and white, and the wedding itself usually exudes an air of sophistication (just look at these elegant wedding pictures!) The best thing about classical-themed weddings is they tend to have everyone looking their absolute best…and why would you want to look any less on the biggest day of your life?

Shabby Chic

Now we’ll go from one of my favorite popular wedding themes, to one of my least favorite popular wedding themes: shabby chic. Skipping past the fact that I detest the word ‘chic,’ let me first say this: done right, a shabby chic wedding theme could look okay. However, what makes it so bad is the sheer difficulty of executing it. You’ll spend days on the internet and running all over town. Looking for things that are in poor condition for your wedding.

Lace is nice, but too much lace can turn your wedding into a tacky affair. And when it’s done, unless it’s executed perfectly, the wedding will look like a collective neighborhood yard sale. According to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shabby Meriam-Webster’s dictionary,) The word ‘shabby’ itself does not have a single good meaning; in poor condition, not fair, ill-kept…not things I would want to portray to my guests. There’s just something so cringingly hipster about making my big day look bad ironically.

Novelty Tux

Novelty tuxedo vests are a trend that only seems to be growing, and not slowing down at all. The novelty tuxedo vests can be a fun way to express your individuality, show your pride for your favorite sports team, or happily declare your allegiance to your favorite TV show or comic! We’ll be taking a closer look at novelty tuxedo vests, how they’re likely to be perceived, and whether they’re a good idea or not for your future event!

Novelty tuxedo vests, or any sort of novelty tuxedo accessories, can be quite fun to wear, and fetching to the right eyes. They can be instant conversation pieces (expect Duck Dynasty fans to stop and talk to you if you wear a camouflage vest like http://www.weddingbycolor.com/amandaregina/tuxedo-vests-realtree-1087 and if you wear a superhero-pattern vest to comic-con, or a sports logo vest at a sports game, you can bet you will receive compliments, people will ask where you got it, and you may even be stopped to take pictures with others!

Giving a good impression

Wearing a novelty tuxedo vest will likely give people the impression that you are fun, creative, and down to earth. And while these are all great things. There are still some places where a novelty tuxedo vest would be a bad idea. For example, if the event is a black tie event for professionals, then a novelty tuxedo vest would probably make it so people have a hard time taking you seriously, especially since at those types of events, first impression is everything.

When it comes to weddings, it really depends on the wedding itself. If your invited to the wedding but not actively participating in it (groomsman, usher, etc.). Then a novelty tuxedo vest might be acceptable as long as the wedding theme isn’t classic or too professional-looking. And, as strange as it seems that I have to say this. It is not okay to wear a novelty tuxedo vest at a funeral. But if the event is a prom, low-key formal gathering, or fun event, then spice it up!

Difference between suits and tuxedos

There’s a surprising number of men who still ask the same question that formalwear specialists still get at least once a day: what’s the difference between suits and tuxedos? Granted, to the untrained eye and from a distance these two things might look pretty similar. But it’s more subtle things that make up the difference between suits and tuxedos.

By far the biggest difference between suits and tuxedos is the lapel. Tuxedos will have a satin lapel, giving them a ‘shinier’ look. Tuxedo jackets also have different buttons. Tuxedo buttons lack the four-holed look that suit buttons have, and are instead sewn tight to the jacket using a ‘stem.’ http://www.diffen.com/difference/Suit_vs_Tuxedo” says that suit jacket lapels are often made of the same material as the coat.

Pants make the difference

Pants are another thing that make up the difference between suits and tuxedos. Tuxedo pants will usually have a satin stripe down the vertical side of the leg, whereas suit pants do not have the stripe. Likewise, shoes that are paired with a tuxedo are typically of a patent leather design, though there’s a current trend toward matte finish shoes with tuxedos. Suits, on the other hand, look funny with patent leather shoes, and a pair of nice, non-specific shoes compliment them well.

Now that you know the key differences between tuxedos and suits. Another thing that sets them apart is when they’re typically worn. Suits are more casual than tuxedos. Wearing a suit to any of these would probably make someone look. For lack of better terms, underdressed and out of place. They recommend suits. For just about everything else: more casual weddings, semi-formal dinners, semi-formal work functions, etc. It’s not good to look overdressed, either.

Becoming a good groomsman

A good groomsman; will you be one? Perhaps you’ve just been asked to be one in a friend’s wedding party. The lessons in how to be a good groomsman are pretty simple, and most of them are really just common sense. But, for those that need some help, here’s some lessons in how to be a good groomsman.

First, and this is probably the most important tip in how to be a good groomsman: if you have negative opinions about marriage, keep them to yourself. It doesn’t matter if you are used to being yourself around them, just don’t do it. It doesn’t matter how many Netflix originals you’ve watched about miserable marriages; it’s no help to the groom, and it’s definitely no help to the bride, and it will make you a drag on the entire affair.

More Tips

Another important tip for how to be a good groomsman, is to not procrastinate with any of your duties. Don’t worm your way out of helping the groom pick things if he asks for help. I know it’s usually the best man’s job to plan the bachelor party (if there is one,) but offer your help anyway…he’ll appreciate it, and it will elevate you in his eyes and the groom’s. And please, don’t show up late to get your measurements for your tuxedo; I’ve seen firsthand the problems that can create not just for you, but for the groom as well. Less than ten days before the wedding is late, but you’ll ideally be in more like twenty days before.

Last but certainly not the least important tip in how to be a good groomsman is this: handle yourself with class at the wedding. Yes, absolutely do dance, have fun, laugh with everyone. But don’t be that guy that gets so drunk he pukes, dances so foolishly he rips his tuxedo, or so tactless he hits on every woman at the wedding. People will definitely remember. And if you’re a good groomsman, people will remember that, too.